Method and apparatus for time division coexistence in unlicensed radio frequency bands for mobile devices

ABSTRACT

Apparatus and methods for time division multiplexing of radio frequency channels in unlicensed radio frequency bands by a wireless device in communication with a cellular wireless network are disclosed. The wireless device obtains, from an eNodeB, a configuration for carrier aggregation using a primary component carrier (PCC) in a licensed radio frequency band and at least one secondary component carrier (SCC) in an unlicensed radio frequency band. The configuration information specifies an “on” time period and an “off” time period for a repetitive time division cycle to use the at least one SCC in the unlicensed radio frequency band. During an “on” time period, the wireless device can transmit or receive using the PCC and the at least one SCC, as scheduled by the eNodeB. During an “off” time period, the wireless device can transmit or receive using the PCC and not using the at least one SCC.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.61/935,302, filed Feb. 3, 2014 and entitled “METHODS AND APPARATUSES FORCOMMUNICATION IN UNLICENSED FREQUENCY BANDS BY MOBILE DEVICES”, which isincorporated by reference herein in its entirety for all purposes.

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. _____,entitled “OFFLOADING AND RESELECTION POLICIES AND RULES FOR MOBILEDEVICES” and U.S. patent application Ser. No. _____, entitled “METHODAND APPARATUS FOR FREQUENCY HOPPING COEXISTENCE IN UNLICENSED RADIOFREQUENCY BANDS FOR MOBILE DEVICES”, both of which are filedconcurrently herewith and which are incorporated by reference herein intheir entirety for all purposes.

FIELD

The described embodiments generally relate to wireless communications,and more particularly, to methods and apparatus for time divisioncoexistence for mobile wireless devices operating in combinations oflicensed and unlicensed radio frequency bands.

BACKGROUND

Fourth generation (4G) cellular networks employing newer radio accesstechnology systems that implement the 3^(rd) Generation PartnershipProject (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE Advanced (LTE-A)standards are rapidly being developed and deployed within the UnitedStates and abroad. The LTE-A standard includes modes for aggregation ofmultiple component carriers (CCs) to provide for meeting the bandwidthrequirements of multi-carrier systems that cumulatively achieve datarates not possible by predecessor LTE versions. Wireless communicationdevices can include configurable radio frequency (RF) circuitry that cantransmit and/or receive radio frequency communications using multiplecomponent carriers in a single radio frequency band and/or in multipleradio frequency bands. With wireless networks encountering exponentialgrowth of Internet traffic, such as video traffic, web browsing traffic,and other data traffic that can be carried over the Internet,development of new wireless communication protocols that can supportwider bandwidths, a greater range of radio frequencies, and higherthroughput data rates arises. Given the costs and/or data traffic limitsto communicate over cellular wireless networks, users can prefer tocommunicate over “free” wireless local area networks (WLANs),subscription based WLANs, and/or operator provided WLANs when possible.In unlicensed radio frequency bands, in which WLANs typically operate,cellular wireless communication devices do not presently operate, butstandardization efforts and exploration have begun that seek to addbandwidth for cellular transmissions by using radio frequency channelswithin the unlicensed radio frequency bands presently occupied by WLANs.In particular, the 5 GHz radio frequency band is targeted to provide forsecondary carrier LTE transmission in a carrier aggregation mode.

In addition, there exists a need for solutions that provide methods andapparatuses for time based sharing of radio frequency channels formobile wireless devices operating in licensed radio frequency bands,unlicensed radio frequency bands, and in combinations of both licensedand unlicensed radio frequency bands. In this regard, it would bebeneficial to manage the use of secondary component carriers by awireless communication device employing carrier aggregation to includecapabilities for communication in unlicensed radio frequency bands inaddition to licensed radio frequency bands.

SUMMARY

Apparatus and methods for time based sharing of radio frequency channelsin mobile wireless devices operating using a combination of bothlicensed and unlicensed radio frequency bands are described. Wirelesscellular network equipment, e.g., base stations (also referred to asenhanced NodeB's or eNodeB's) alone or in combination with additionalwireless network equipment, can manage the use of secondary componentcarriers associated with secondary cells by one or more wirelesscommunication devices that employ carrier aggregation to transmit and/orreceive using multiple radio frequency carriers in parallel. Thesecondary component carriers can be centered at radio frequencies in anunlicensed radio frequency band, e.g., the 5 GHz Industrial, Medical,and Scientific (ISM) band, while a primary component carrier for aprimary cell can operate in a licensed cellular radio frequency band.The network equipment schedules data communication between a cellularwireless network and a wireless communication device using the primarycomponent carrier, e.g., as specified in LTE/LTE-A wirelesscommunication protocols, and supplements the data communication withadditional bandwidth in the unlicensed radio frequency band over asecondary component carrier. A wireless communication device able tocommunicate using carrier aggregation with component carriers in acombination of licensed and unlicensed radio frequency bands can bereferred to herein as an LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U) capable wirelesscommunication device. The primary and secondary component carriersbelong to primary and secondary cells respectively and are managedthrough a common eNodeB (base station). The unlicensed radio frequencyband is shared with other wireless devices that operate in the sameunlicensed radio frequency band, e.g., wireless local area network(WLAN) devices that use a Wi-Fi wireless communication protocol. In someembodiments, a wireless network operator can deploy a “small” cell thatoperates in the unlicensed radio frequency band over a limitedgeographic coverage area, e.g., significantly smaller than covered by amacro-cell of a cellular wireless network. In some embodiments, thewireless cellular operator can deploy and manage a combination ofnetwork equipment using both 3GPP LTE/LTE-A wireless cellularcommunication protocols, including extensions for operation usingunlicensed radio frequency bands, as well as WLAN (Wi-Fi) communicationprotocols in parallel, e.g., both cell towers and Wi-Fi hotspots can bedeployed and managed by the wireless network operator. In someembodiments, the wireless network specifies configurations for secondarycomponent carriers to cycle between “on” periods and “off” periods,e.g., through system information block messages and or radio resourcecontrol messages. In some embodiments, an eNodeB of the wireless networkactivates and deactivates secondary cells (including, for example,secondary component carriers associated with the secondary cells) usingmedium access control (MAC) control elements. In some embodiments, theeNodeB configures each secondary cell with a set of timers that includea starting time for “on” cycles, a starting time for “off” cycles, anddurations of the “on” and “off” cycles. In some embodiments, the eNodeBspecifies the “on” and “off” cycles using system frame number (SFN)values. During an “on” cycle, one or more LTE-U capable wirelesscommunication devices can transmit to the eNodeB and/or receive from theeNodeB using secondary component carriers of a secondary cell inunlicensed radio frequency (RF) bands in addition to using a primarycomponent carrier of a primary cell in licensed radio frequency bands.The eNodeB can schedule communication on multiple LTE-U capable wirelesscommunication devices during an “on” cycle to share the time/frequencyresources without interfering with each other. During an “off” cycle,the eNodeB and the multiple LTE-U capable wireless communication devicescan inhibit (or refrain from) transmitting, leaving the radio frequencychannels open for communication by non-cellular wireless communicationdevices during the “off” cycle. In some embodiments, the eNodeBsynchronizes the transmissions of all LTE-U capable wirelesscommunication devices to use the same “on” and “off” cycles. In someembodiments, each secondary cell of an eNodeB uses a common set of “on”and “off” cycles. In some embodiments, each secondary cell of an eNodeBuses its own set of “on” and “off” cycles. During “off” cycles, theLTE-U capable wireless communication devices communicate with the eNodeBusing radio resources in the licensed radio frequency band only, e.g.,using the primary component carrier associated with the primary cell.The LTE-U capable wireless communication devices can communicate viacarrier aggregation using a combination of radio resources in anunlicensed radio frequency band, via secondary component carriers, andin a licensed radio frequency band, via a primary component carrier,simultaneously during “on” cycles.

This Summary is provided merely for purposes of summarizing some exampleembodiments so as to provide a basic understanding of some aspects ofthe subject matter described herein. Accordingly, it will be appreciatedthat the above-described features are merely examples and should not beconstrued to narrow the scope or spirit of the subject matter describedherein in any way. Other features, aspects, and advantages of thesubject matter described herein will become apparent from the followingDetailed Description, Figures, and Claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The described embodiments and the advantages thereof may best beunderstood with reference to the following description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings. These drawings are notnecessarily drawn to scale, and they are in no way intended to limit orexclude foreseeable modifications thereto in form and detail that may bemade by one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of thisdisclosure.

FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless communication network including Long TermEvolution (LTE) and LTE Advanced (LTE-A) network cells supportingmultiple user equipment devices (UEs), in accordance with variousembodiments of the disclosure.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate a wireless communication network diagramdepicting LTE and LTE-A user equipment (UE) in communication with aprimary carrier cell and with one or more secondary carrier cells, inaccordance with various implementations of the disclosure.

FIGS. 2C and 2D illustrate representative wireless communication systemsincluding radio frequency coexistence interference in accordance withsome embodiments.

FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C illustrate three distinct carrier aggregationrepresentations that depict two intra-band component carrier (CC)frequency resource diagrams and one inter-band CC frequency resourcediagram, in accordance with various embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 3D illustrates a representative set of parallel radio frequencychannel for use in an unlicensed radio frequency band by a wirelesscommunication device, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 3E and 3F illustrate overlapping frequency channels of an LTE-Uwireless communication system and a Wi-Fi wireless communication system.

FIG. 3G illustrates a representative time division multiplexing methodfor communication in shared unlicensed radio frequency bands, inaccordance with various embodiments of the disclosure.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate block diagrams of wireless communicationdevices, in accordance with various embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates a diagram of data and signaling communication betweena wireless communication device and a set of network component carriersfor carrier aggregation in an LTE network, in accordance with variousembodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart depicting a method for managing radiofrequency communication using multiple radio frequency channels inlicensed and/or unlicensed radio frequency bands, in accordance withvarious embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart depicting a method for time divisionmultiplexing coexistence for wireless communication devices, inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart depicting a method for frequency hoppingcoexistence for wireless communication devices, in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Representative applications of systems, methods, apparatuses, andcomputer program products according to the present disclosure aredescribed in this section. These examples are being provided solely toadd context and aid in the understanding of the described embodiments.It will thus be apparent to one skilled in the art that the describedembodiments may be practiced without some or all of these specificdetails. In other instances, well known process steps have not beendescribed in detail in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring thedescribed embodiments. Other applications are possible, such that thefollowing examples should not be taken as limiting.

In the following detailed description, references are made to theaccompanying drawings, which form a part of the description and in whichare shown, by way of illustration, specific embodiments in accordancewith the described embodiments. Although these embodiments are describedin sufficient detail to enable one skilled in the art to practice thedescribed embodiments, it is understood that these examples are notlimiting; such that other embodiments may be used, and changes may bemade without departing from the spirit and scope of the describedembodiments.

In accordance with various embodiments described herein, the terms“wireless communication device,” “wireless device,” “mobile device,”“mobile station,” and “user equipment” (UE) may be used interchangeablyherein to describe one or more common consumer electronic devices thatmay be capable of performing procedures associated with variousembodiments of the disclosure. In accordance with variousimplementations, any one of these consumer electronic devices may relateto: a cellular phone or a smart phone, a tablet computer, a laptopcomputer, a notebook computer, a personal computer, a netbook computer,a media player device, an electronic book device, a MiFi® device, awearable computing device, as well as any other type of electroniccomputing device having wireless communication capability that caninclude communication via one or more wireless communication protocolssuch as used for communication on: a wireless wide area network (WWAN),a wireless metro area network (WMAN) a wireless local area network(WLAN), a wireless personal area network (WPAN), a near fieldcommunication (NFC), a cellular wireless network, a fourth generation(4G) LTE, LTE Advanced (LTE-A), and/or 5G or other present or futuredeveloped advanced cellular wireless networks.

The wireless communication device, in some embodiments, can also operateas part of a wireless communication system, which can include a set ofclient devices, which can also be referred to as stations, clientwireless devices, or client wireless communication devices,interconnected to an access point (AP), e.g., as part of a WLAN, and/orto each other, e.g., as part of a WPAN and/or an “ad hoc” wirelessnetwork. In some embodiments, the client device can be any wirelesscommunication device that is capable of communicating via a WLANtechnology, e.g., in accordance with a wireless local area networkcommunication protocol. In some embodiments, the WLAN technology caninclude a Wi-Fi (or more generically a WLAN) wireless communicationsubsystem or radio, the Wi-Fi radio can implement an Institute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 technology, such asone or more of: IEEE 802.11a; IEEE 802.11b; IEEE 802.11g; IEEE802.11-2007; IEEE 802.11n; IEEE 802.11-2012; IEEE 802.11 ac; or otherpresent or future developed IEEE 802.11 technologies.

In various embodiments, these capabilities may allow a respective UE tocommunicate within various 4G network cells that can employ any type ofLTE-based radio access technology (RAT) supporting carrier aggregation.In some embodiments, the respective UE may communicate using anLTE-based RAT and/or in accordance with a wireless communicationprotocol for a wireless local area network (WLAN). In some embodiments,the UE may operate using LTE wireless communication protocols inlicensed radio frequency bands and/or in a combination of licensed andunlicensed radio frequency bands. In some embodiments, the UE mayoffload all or a portion of data communication between a cellularconnection of an LTE-based wireless network and a connection via a WLAN.In some embodiments, the UE may offload portions of data betweencomponent carriers of a carrier aggregation scheme. In some embodiments,the component carriers can be in a combination of licensed andunlicensed radio frequency bands. In some embodiments, a wirelessnetwork provider can manage offloading of data communication betweennetworks using different RATs, including some that operate in accordancewith different wireless communication protocols. In some embodiments,the UE can transfer a connection, e.g., via reselection, between anLTE-based wireless network and a WLAN.

In some embodiments, the UE can communicate using multiple componentcarriers in accordance with carrier aggregation as specified by an LTE-Awireless communication protocol. Wireless communication devices thatcommunicate in accordance with 3GPP LTE and/or LTE-A wirelesscommunication protocols can use carrier aggregation to provide forincreased throughput, e.g., in a downlink direction from multiple cellsof a wireless network. A primary component carrier, which can beassociated with a first cell (primary cell) of the wireless network, canbe used for a combination of downlink communication from the wirelessnetwork to the wireless communication device and uplink communicationfrom the wireless communication device to the wireless network. Asecondary component carrier, which can be associated with a second cell(secondary cell) of the wireless network, can be used for downlinkcommunication. The aggregate data rate achievable through carrieraggregation with multiple component carriers can surpass data ratesachievable by using only a single component carrier. Uplinkcommunication, however, in some embodiments, can be constrained to useonly the primary component carrier. Extensions to LTE/LTE-A wirelesscommunication protocols can provide for using combinations of a primarycomponent carrier in a licensed radio frequency band and one or moresecondary component carriers in unlicensed radio frequency bands, asdescribed further herein.

Each component carrier used in carrier aggregation can be centered atdifferent radio frequency values within a common radio frequency band oracross two separate radio frequency bands. The separate radio frequencybands can include licensed radio frequency bands or a combination ofboth licensed and unlicensed radio frequency bands. In some embodiments,communication via a primary component carrier used for carrieraggregation can be within a licensed radio frequency band andcommunication via a secondary component carrier used for carrieraggregation by the UE can be within an unlicensed radio frequency band.A wireless network provider, via wireless network equipment, can managethe use of secondary component carriers for carrier aggregation inunlicensed radio frequency bands in a manner to mitigate coexistenceinterference with other wireless communication devices sharing theunlicensed radio frequency bands. The wireless network provider can useone or more performance metrics collected by UEs and/or by accessnetwork equipment, e.g., eNodeBs, which monitor radio frequencyconditions, signal quality, data communication performance, linkstability, or the like, to determine whether, when, and/or how tooffload data communication between parallel wireless networks, to sharedata communication using multiple component carriers via carrieraggregation, and/or to reselect between different wireless networks thatuse different RATs, including WLANs.

Additionally, it should be understood that the UEs described herein maybe configured as multi-mode wireless communication devices that are alsocapable of communicating via additional third generation (3G) and/orsecond generation (2G) RATs. In these scenarios, a multi-mode UE can beconfigured to “prefer” attachment to LTE or LTE-A networks offeringfaster data rate throughput, as compared to legacy 3G networks offeringlower data rate throughputs. For instance, in some implementations, a 4Gcompliant UE may be configured to fall back to a legacy 3G network,e.g., an Evolved High Speed Packet Access (HSPA+) network or a CodeDivision Multiple Access (CDMA) 2000 Evolution-Data Only (EV-DO)network, when LTE and LTE-A networks are otherwise unavailable.

FIG. 1 depicts a wireless communication system 100, which can complywith a 3GPP Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) airinterface, and can include, but is not limited to including, an LTEnetwork cell 102 and two LTE-A network cells 104 a-b, respectivelyhaving enhanced NodeB (eNodeB) base stations (e.g., depicted as radiotowers) that can communicate between and amongst each other via anLTE-X2 interface. Further, the E-UTRA compliant communication system 100can include any number of mobility management entities (MMEs) 108 a-c,serving gateways (S-GWs) 108 a-c, PDN gateways (P-GWs) 110, etc., which,as part of an evolved packet core (EPC), can communicate with any of theLTE and LTE-A cell eNodeBs, 102 and 104 a-b, via an LTE-S1 interface.Additionally, the E-UTRA communication system 100 can include any numberof UEs 106 that can receive wireless communications service via one ormore of the eNodeBs of the LTE and LTE-A cells, 102 and 104 a-b, at anyparticular time. By way of example, a UE 106 may be located within oneor more LTE-A cell(s) 104 a-b. While not explicitly illustrated in FIG.1, LTE and LTE-A cells can overlap at least partially in geographic areacovered by each cell.

In various embodiments, any of the MMEs 108 a-c and/or any of the eNodeBbase stations of the LTE-A cells 104 a-b, which are capable ofsupporting carrier aggregation, can be configured to communicatecontrol-plane data to any of the UEs 106 in the DL; Alternatively, anyof the UEs 106 may be capable of communicating control-plane data viaany of the LTE-A cells 104 a-b in the UL. In this regard, it should beunderstood that the MMEs 108 a-b can perform Non-Access Stratum (NAS)control-plane signaling between the EPC and the UE 106 via the eNodeBover the radio access network (RAN) portion of the network. In somescenarios, NAS signaling can include, but is not limited to including,procedures for establishing and releasing radio bearer connections foruser equipment (UE), affecting UE transitions from idle mode toconnected mode (and vice versa) by generating corresponding pagingmessages, and implementing various communication security features.

Further, the eNodeB base stations of the LTE-A cells 104 a-b can beconfigured to perform various radio resource control (RRC) control-planesignaling procedures, including, but not limited to including, systeminformation broadcasting, transmitting paging messages emanating fromMMEs, RRC parameter configuration for UEs, network cell selection andreselection procedures, measurement and reporting configuration for UEs,monitoring and reporting of radio link signal quality, and management ofradio connections between various UE and a wireless network includingadding, deleting, and transitioning between the use of different radiobearers, including component carriers used for carrier aggregation, etc.In various implementations, RRC control plane signaling may be performedin conjunction with one or more of the following LTE protocol entitiesor layers: the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), the radio linkcontrol (RLC) layer, the medium access control (MAC) layer, and thephysical (PHY) layer. It should be understood that control-plane dataand user-plane data can be multiplexed within the MAC layer andcommunicated to an intended recipient via the PHY layer, in the downlink(DL) or in the uplink (UL), e.g., during the same transmission timeinterval (TTI).

FIG. 2A illustrates a wireless communication network diagram 200depicting an LTE-A compliant UE 206 that is in communication with aprimary cell 210 and with two secondary cells 212 and 214, each celloverlapping but not necessarily covering the same geographic area, in acarrier aggregation scenario. By way of example, and with reference to3GPP LTE-A Releases 10, 11, and 12, the LTE-A compliant UE 206 cancommunicate with the eNodeB base station 202 (e.g., in the DL or theUL), which can have radio frequency transmission and reception equipmentfor providing radio coverage via three distinct radio frequencyresources (also referred to as carriers), F1, F2, and F3. The threecarriers can be used as individual component carriers (CCs) forcommunication that can be provided to UE 206 in aggregate, e.g., tooffer higher communication bandwidth and/or throughput than can bepossible using only a single component carrier. From the perspective ofthe LTE-A compliant UE 206, the CC radio frequency resource F1 can beassociated with the primary cell 210, the CC radio frequency resource F2can be associated with the secondary cell 212, and the CC radiofrequency resource F3 can be associated with the secondary cell 214.Alternative carrier aggregation representations for a frequency resourcescenario are described further herein for FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C.

The communication network diagram 200 also depicts an LTE compliant UE204, with reference to 3GPP LTE Releases 8 and 9, which is not capableof communicating using carrier aggregation with multiple componentcarriers but can communicate in accordance with an LTE wirelesscommunication protocol using one component carrier, e.g., the primarycomponent carrier. By way of example, the LTE compliant UE 204 cancommunicate with the eNodeB base station 202 (in the DL or the UL) via asingle frequency resource Fl. In the single carrier scenario, the LTEcompliant UE 204 employs individual standard-designated systembandwidths that limit achievable data rate throughput to roughly 300Mbits/sec. in the DL, and roughly 75 Mbits/sec. in the UL (real worldimplementations may vary) using a frequency bandwidth that can rangefrom 1.4 MHz up to 20 MHz. The communication network diagram 200 alsodepicts an LTE compliant UE 208, which operates in accordance with anLTE wireless communication protocol (e.g., 3GPP LTE Releases 8/9 orlater) and can connect to a wireless network via a single frequencyresource F4, which can be associated with a “small” cell 218, i.e., acell having a geographic coverage range that is less than that of ausual “macro” cell for a wireless network. In some embodiments, the“small” cell 218 can be also referred to as a micro-cell, nano-cell, orfemto-cell, which can provide limited coverage that supplements coverageprovided by a macro cell, e.g., by the primary cell 210, of a cellularwireless network. The “small” cell 218 can emanate from dedicatednetwork equipment 216, which can be connected to the wireless networkvia a “back haul” using either a wired or wireless connection. In someembodiments, the “small” cell 218 connects to the wireless network via awired connection (e.g., through a “broadband” link). A wireless networkprovider can offer services for a “home” based “small cell” thatprovides short range coverage within a limited area to supplementservice provided by one or more macro cells of the cellular wirelessnetwork. Wireless network providers can seek to use multiple parallelconnection options in order to balance network loading and provide forgreater coverage, higher data rates, and/or greater link stability usinga combination of “macro” cells and “small” cells. In some embodiments, awireless network provider can operate the “small” cell 218 using acarrier in a licensed radio frequency band, e.g., via frequency resourceF4. In some embodiments, the wireless network provider can operate the“small” cell 218 using a secondary component carrier in an unlicensedradio frequency band to supplement communication via a primary componentcarrier in a licensed radio frequency band. An LTE-U capable wirelesscommunication device would be able to connect to the wireless networkusing a combination of component carriers in both licensed andunlicensed radio frequency bands via carrier aggregation.

FIG. 2B illustrates a diagram 250 for another wireless communicationnetwork depicting a wireless communication device 252 in communicationwith the primary cell 210 via a primary component carrier at radiofrequency F1 (in accordance with an LTE/LTE-A wireless communicationprotocol) and with a secondary cell 256 via a secondary componentcarrier at radio frequency F5. In some embodiments, the wireless networkprovider can operate the “small” cell 218 using a carrier in anunlicensed radio frequency band. The secondary carrier in the unlicensedradio frequency band can be referred to as an LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U)carrier, and the LTE-U capable wireless communication device 252 can beoperate in accordance with an LTE-U wireless communication protocol. Asdiscussed further herein, the wireless network provider can, in someembodiments, provide for communication with the wireless communicationdevice 252 using both the primary carrier in a licensed radio frequencyband, e.g., via frequency resource F1, and the secondary carrier in anunlicensed radio frequency band, e.g., via frequency resource F5 inparallel. As the unlicensed radio frequency band can be shared by othernon-cellular wireless communication devices, the cellular wirelessnetwork can seek to mitigate coexistence interference betweencommunication on the secondary component carrier in the unlicensed radiofrequency band and communication using an overlapping and/or adjacentset of frequencies used by other wireless communication devices, e.g.,operating in accordance with a wireless local area network (WLAN)wireless communication protocol of which Wi-Fi protocols are arepresentative example. As unlicensed radio frequency bands can beshared by multiple network providers and/or by a variety of wirelessnetwork equipment, the LTE-U communication via the secondary componentcarrier F5 in the secondary cell 256 can be “managed” by the wirelessnetwork to mitigate interference into and received from other wirelesscommunication devices, e.g., Wi-Fi equipment. The wireless network caninclude equipment to schedule transmissions over the secondary componentcarrier F5 to share the unlicensed radio frequency band among multipleLTE-U capable wireless devices, e.g., multiple different wirelesscommunication devices 252. In some embodiments, a wireless networkprovider can also operate a wireless local area network device, e.g., aWi-Fi “hot spot” (not shown), a secondary cell 256, and a primary cell210 simultaneously and can manage communication via the three separatepieces of network equipment, e.g., a “managed” Wi-Fi “hot spot” accesspoint, the secondary cell's eNodeB 254 (or a “femto cell” orequivalent), and the primary cell's eNodeB 202. The wireless networkprovider can manage the combination of network equipment incommunication with multiple wireless communication devices to mitigatecoexistence interference, to provide for offloading of traffic betweenvarious network equipment, to provide for selection by the wirelesscommunication device 252 to establish connections via one or more of thevarious network equipment, to provide for reselection between variousnetwork equipment, to share communication using parallel componentcarriers, etc. In some embodiments, the wireless network provider canuse a set of access network discovery and selection function (ANDSF)policy objects to provide for the management of communication using themultiple types of access network equipment, including a combination ofeNodeB's 202, “small” cell network equipment 254, and managed WLAN(Wi-Fi) access points (not shown).

FIGS. 2C and 2D illustrate representative wireless communication systemsthat can experience radio frequency coexistence interference, inaccordance with some embodiments. FIG. 2C illustrates a wirelesscommunication system 260 in which a wireless communication device 262can communicate simultaneously using a cellular wireless communicationprotocol, e.g., transmitting to a cell tower (base station) 202 over aprimary component carrier in a licensed LTE frequency band and to a celltower (base station) 254 over a secondary component carrier in anunlicensed radio frequency band, while also receiving communication inaccordance with a WLAN wireless communication protocol from a WLANaccess point 264. The WLAN access point can also communicate withanother wireless communication device 268, which in some embodiments canoperate only using a WLAN wireless communication protocol. The WLANaccess point 264, together with the wireless devices 262 and 268, canform a WLAN that uses a particular radio frequency channel in anunlicensed radio frequency band. When the wireless device 262 transmitson the same radio frequency channel or on a radio frequency channel thatoverlaps with the WLAN radio frequency channel, e.g., to an LTE-Ucapable base station 254, the receiver of the wireless device 262 canencounter “in device” coexistence radio frequency interference. As thecellular transmitter and the WLAN receiver can be collocated in thewireless device 262, in some embodiments, the WLAN receiver and/or thecellular transmitter can undertake actions to mitigate effects of the“in device” coexistence radio frequency interference, e.g., byminimizing overlapping transmission times and/or changing use offrequency channels to provide for reduced radio frequency interferencefrom the cellular transmitter into the WLAN receiver.

Radio frequency interference, however, can also occur between twodifferent wireless devices or from access network equipment of acellular wireless network (e.g., communicating with the same wirelessdevice 268 as the wireless WLAN access point 264) as illustrated by thewireless communication system 270 in FIG. 2D. A cellular transmitter ofa nearby wireless device 262 that communicates with the LTE-U capablebase station 254 can not only interfere with its own WLAN receiver butalso with the WLAN receiver of another wireless device, e.g., wirelessdevice 268, which can seek to communicate with the WLAN access point 264using the same frequency channel and/or using one or more overlappingradio frequency channels occupied by the LTE-U cellular transmitter ofthe wireless device 262. Similarly, a cellular transmitter of an LTE-Uband base station 254 that communicates with one or more wirelessdevices, including for example the wireless device 268, can causecoexistence interference in the wireless device 268, which can seek tocommunicate with the WLAN access point 264 using the same and/oroverlapping radio frequency channels as used by the cellular transmitterof the LTE-U band base station 254. In some embodiments, the wirelessdevice 268 can seek to receive signals from both a WLAN access point 264and from an LTE-U band base station 254 of a cellular wireless network.When both the WLAN access point 264 and the LTE-U band base station usethe same radio frequency channel and/or one or more overlapping radiofrequency channels, e.g., in an unlicensed radio frequency band,reception by the wireless device 268 of signals from the WLAN accesspoint 264 and/or from the LTE-U band base station 254 (e.g., usingseparate parallel wireless circuitry) can interfere with each other. Insome embodiments, the receiver of the wireless device 268 can listen forand detect radio frequency signals from nearby cellular transmitters,such as from the LTE-U band base station 254 or other wireless devices262 that overlap and/or use the radio frequency channels used for WLANcommunication and can seek to minimize and/or mitigate the effect of theradio frequency interference from the cellular transmissions. In someembodiments, transmissions of the wireless device 262 can be managed,e.g., by the wireless device 262 itself, and/or by wireless networkequipment, e.g., via control signals provided through the LTE basestation 202 and/or the LTE-U capable base station 254, to mitigatecoexistence interference between the wireless devices 262 and 268. Asdescribed further herein, the wireless device 262 can transmit using atime division multiplexing scheme and/or using frequency hopping toshare all or portions of the unlicensed radio frequency band with otherwireless devices, e.g., with the wireless device 268.

In a typical WLAN communication system, e.g., based on a carrier sensemultiple access (CSMA) protocol, a wireless client device, e.g., 268,can decode an incoming WLAN packet to determine its destination. Ascommunication in the WLAN communication system can be “unscheduled,” anyincoming WLAN packet can be destined for the wireless client device 268.In some embodiments, the wireless client device 268 can detect anddecode the preamble of the WLAN packet, and by doing so, the wirelessclient device 268 can determine whether the radio frequency channel(which can also be referred to as the “medium”) is occupied forcommunication by another WLAN client device. WLAN communicationprotocols can require that signals at a level of −82 dBm or higher bedetectable and decodable by the WLAN client device 268 and by the WLANaccess point 264 in order for the CSMA mechanism to perform properly. Ina typical WLAN client device 268, WLAN signals at a level of -90 dBm orhigher can be detected and decoded. The detection and decoding, however,can rely on the presence of a preamble at the beginning of the WLANpacket for detection, and when communications do not include adetectable preamble, the WLAN client device 268 can rely instead on asimple energy detection mechanism to determine the presence of a radiofrequency interferer.

The WLAN communication protocol can require that a radio signal havingan energy level of −62 dBm or higher be detectable by the WLAN clientdevice 268. This detectable energy level is for radio frequency signalsthat may or may not be decodable by the WLAN client device 268 and issubstantially higher than the decodable level for formatted packets thatinclude a preamble for detection by the WLAN client device 268. Whendetecting the energy of the interfering radio signal, which can also bereferred to as measuring a received signal strength indication (RSSI)level of −62 dBm or higher, the WLAN client device 268B can acknowledgethat the radio frequency channel is “busy” or otherwise “occupied” andcan wait for a future “clear” transmission time. The WLAN client device268 can thus “sense” the presence of a “carrier” in the radio frequencychannel and provide for “fair” access to another WLAN device using theradio frequency channel. Both the wireless communication device 262communicating using an LTE-U secondary component carrier and the WLANclient device 268 communicating using a WLAN wireless communicationprotocol can be subject to radio frequency interference when theyattempt to occupy all or portions of the same radio frequency channel atthe same time. Wireless packets for the LTE communication system and/orthe WLAN communication system can be corrupted due to the radiofrequency interference unless a proper detection and “back off”mechanism is employed. In some embodiments, a WLAN client device 268and/or a WLAN AP 264 can scan one or more radio frequency channels in aradio frequency band (or in multiple radio frequency bands) to detectthe presence of an LTE cellular system. The cellular transmissions ofthe wireless device 262 in the unlicensed radio frequency band caninclude gaps in time and/or can use different radio frequency channelsover time to provide for “clear” transmission time intervals and/orradio frequency channels (or more generally portions of radio frequencyspectrum in unlicensed radio frequency bands) during which the WLANclient device 268 can communicate with the WLAN AP 264. In someembodiments, all wireless communication devices 262 that use a secondarycomponent carrier in a carrier aggregation scheme that operates using atleast in part a frequency band that overlaps with the unlicensed radiofrequency band, e.g., as used by the WLAN client device 268 and the WLANAP 264, can be managed to provide for “clear” transmission times and/or“clear” radio frequency channels to permit “fair” sharing of theunlicensed radio frequency band among multiple wireless communicationdevices, including both LTE-U capable devices and WLAN (Wi-Fi) devices.

FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C illustrate three distinct carrier aggregationrepresentations depicting two intra-band CC frequency resource diagrams,300 and 310, and one inter-band CC frequency resource diagram 320, inaccordance with various embodiments. As is generally understood, in 3GPPLTE and LTE-A, an individual CC can be limited to communicating atvarious designated system bandwidths 308 ranging from 1.4 MHz up to 20MHz. As such, the cumulative DL data rate throughput achievable by usingcarrier aggregation scenarios can increase over the single carrierdata-rate throughput of roughly 300Mbits/sec. by a multiplier value,e.g., related to the number of CCs employed (up to 5 CCs in LTE-A) inparallel and based on bandwidths of the constituent CCs. Fortelecommunication networks employing LTE-A, interoperability withpredecessor LTE versions can require LTE-A CCs to employ a systembandwidth equivalent to earlier LTE version counterparts. As such, thepeak single CC LTE-A system bandwidth can be capped at 20 MHz forinter-LTE RAT compatibility. However, in various carrier aggregationscenarios, an aggregate set of LTE-A CCs may be able to achievecumulative bandwidths of up to 100 MHz (5 CCs×20 MHz, the maximum LTEstandard system bandwidth) using one or more allocated LTE spectrumbands.

FIG. 3A illustrates a carrier aggregation representation depicting anintra-band contiguous CC frequency resource diagram 300, where eachaggregated CC, 302, 304, and 306, is associated with its own distinctfrequency resource, F1, F2, or F3, within the same service providerdesignated DL frequency band, Band A. A frequency resource, in someembodiments, can also be referred to as a frequency carrier, carrier, orfrequency channel. In the intra-band contiguous CC scenario, the threefrequency resources, F1, F2, and F3, are sequential CC frequencies inthe frequency domain positioned adjacent one another in Band A. FIG. 3Billustrates a carrier aggregation representation depicting an intra-bandnon-contiguous CC frequency resource diagram 310, where each aggregatedCC, 312, 314, and 316, is associated with its own distinct frequencyresource, F1, F2, or F3, within a single DL frequency band, Band A.However, in the intra-band non-contiguous CC scenario 310, the threefrequency resources, F1, F2, and F3, can be CC frequencies that arerespectively separated by one or more intervening frequency channels inthe frequency domain, within Band A, e.g., as illustrated by theseparation of frequency channels F2 and F3. FIG. 3C illustrates acarrier aggregation representation depicting an inter-bandnon-contiguous CC frequency resource diagram 320, where each aggregatedCC, 322, 324, and 326, is associated with its own distinct frequencyresource, F1, F2, or F3, spread across two service provider designatedDL frequency bands, Band A and Band B. In the inter-band non-contiguousCC scenario, the frequency resources, F1 and F2, of Band A can be CCfrequencies that are separated from the frequency resource F3 of Band Bin the frequency domain. For reference, 3GPP LTE-A Release 10 specifiescarrier aggregation for LTE, while LTE-A Releases 11 and 12 describevarious carrier aggregation enhancements including various inter-band CCband pairings. It should be understood that telecommunications serviceproviders generally operate using both similar and dissimilar licensedLTE frequency spectrum bands. For example, within the United States,Verizon's® LTE networks operate in the 700 and 1700/2100 Mhz frequencyspectra using Bands 13 and 4, whereas AT&T's® LTE networks operate inthe 700, 1700/2100, and 2300 MHz frequency spectra using Bands 17, 4,and 30. In addition to communicating via carrier aggregation using radiofrequency channels in one or more licensed radio frequency bands,wireless network providers can provide for communicating using frequencyresources in unlicensed radio frequency bands in parallel with licensedradio frequency bands, e.g., to supplement communication over a primarycomponent carrier in a licensed radio frequency band with a secondarycomponent carrier in an unlicensed radio frequency band.

FIG. 3D illustrates a set of radio frequency channels available for useby wireless local area network (WLAN) systems in an unlicensed radiofrequency band, in accordance with some embodiments. A “client” WLANdevice can be any wireless communication device capable of communicatingvia a wireless local area network (WLAN) technology, e.g., in accordancewith a wireless local area network communication protocol. In someembodiments, the WLAN technology can include a Wi-Fi (or moregenerically a WLAN) wireless communication subsystem (which can also bereferred to in some embodiments as a radio), the Wi-Fi wirelesscommunication subsystem can implement an Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 technology, such as one or more of:IEEE 802.11a; IEEE 802.11b; IEEE 802.11g; IEEE 802.11-2007; IEEE802.11n; IEEE 802.11-2012; IEEE 802.11ac; or other present or futuredeveloped IEEE 802.11 technologies. The set of 802.11 Wi-Ficommunication protocols utilize a region of radio frequency spectrum inthe Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) radio frequency bands,e.g., 2.4 to 2.5 GHz, and the “5 GHz” radio frequency band, e.g.,spanning from approximately 4.9 to 5.8 GHz. The “higher” radio frequencybands can provide for wider radio frequency channels that offer morebandwidth and higher data rates. The “lower” radio frequency bands canprovide a wider coverage area due to lower path loss and thereforegreater range. Typically, WLAN client devices and WLAN access pointsoffer the capability to operate in one or multiple unlicensed radiofrequency bands. Additional radio frequency bands are planned for futureuse by WLAN wireless communication devices, and wireless communicationprotocol standards are being developed to use the additional radiofrequency bands including those in the television “white space”frequencies, e.g. in the very high frequency (VHF) and ultra highfrequency (UHF) bands, i.e., near 600 MHz, as well as at frequenciesnear 3.5 GHz. Radio frequency channels, used by WLAN client devices andWLAN access points in the 5 GHz unlicensed radio frequency band, canspan approximately 20 MHz of radio frequency bandwidth as illustrated inFIG. 3D. In addition, WLAN client devices can use multiple 20 MHz radiofrequency channels together to provide wider radio frequency bandwidthchannels as illustrated in FIG. 3E. Thus, WLAN client devices may notonly use 20 MHz wide frequency channels, but also 40 MHz, 80 MHz, and/or160 MHz wide radio frequency channels. Higher bandwidth radio frequencychannels can provide for higher data rate throughput, but can also besubject to more radio frequency interference from other wirelesssystems, transmissions from which can overlap with all or a portion ofthe WLAN radio frequency channels.

As illustrated by the diagram 350 in FIG. 3E, an LTE-U secondary cell352 operating on a radio frequency channel F5 and occupyingapproximately 20 MHz of bandwidth, can overlap with all or a portion ofradio frequency spectrum used by a WLAN system operating in the samefrequency range of the unlicensed radio frequency band. For example, theLTE-U secondary cell 352 can operate using a frequency band thatcoincides with frequency channel CH48 centered at 5.240 GHz in the 5 GHzunlicensed radio frequency band. The LTE-U secondary cell 352 can alsooverlap in part wider bandwidth frequency channels that use additionalfrequency channels. To mitigate coexistence interference betweencommunication systems that use the same radio frequency band withoverlapping radio frequency channels, the cellular wireless network caninclude methods to share all or portions of the unlicensed radiofrequency band, e.g., through time division multiplexing and/orfrequency hopping techniques as described further herein.

FIG. 3F illustrates a diagram 360 including a representative set ofLTE-U radio frequency channels that span a portion of the 5 GHzunlicensed radio frequency band that can be used by a cellular wirelessnetwork. In some embodiments, a wireless network provider can use one ormore of the set of LTE-U radio frequency channels to communicate with awireless communication device, e.g., via a secondary component carrierfor carrier aggregation. A primary component carrier in a licensed radiofrequency band (not shown) can be used in parallel with one or moresecondary component carriers to provide for carrier aggregation. Theprimary component carrier can be used to provide control signals tomanage when and how to use the secondary component carriers in theunlicensed radio frequency band. In some embodiments, only one secondarycomponent carrier in the unlicensed radio frequency band is used inparallel with the primary component carrier in the licensed radiofrequency band. In some embodiments, multiple secondary componentcarriers in the unlicensed radio frequency band can be used, e.g., inparallel simultaneously and/or in series sequentially (or in a frequencyhopping order). In some embodiments, the cellular wireless network canindicate a series of frequency channels on which the secondary componentcarrier can operate, e.g., using a frequency hopping scheme to changebetween different frequency channels over time. FIG. 3F illustrates arepresentative set of five different radio frequency channels in anLTE-U frequency band, which can be part of and/or overlap with anunlicensed radio frequency band, e.g., an unlicensed nationalinformation infrastructure (UNII) frequency band. One or more of theradio frequency channels used by the cellular wireless network in theLTE-U frequency band can overlap, at least in part, with one or moreradio frequency channels in the UNII frequency band. Each radiofrequency channel used in the LTE-U frequency band can be referred to byan unlicensed EUTRA absolute radio frequency channel number (ueARFCN)having a distinct radio frequency carrier value, e.g., 5.700 GHz, 5.750GHz, 5.800 GHz, 5.820 GHz, or 5.850 GHz as illustrated in FIG. 3F. Aswould be understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art, the valuesfor the radio frequency channels can vary from those shown, as otherradio frequency carrier values can be equally appropriate to use.Similarly the number of radio frequency channels in the unlicensed radiofrequency band used for frequency hopping can vary, i.e., includingnumbers fewer or greater than as illustrated in FIG. 3F. In general, theradio frequency channels used in the unlicensed radio frequency band canbe non-overlapping, and in some cases separated from each other, e.g.,as with ueARFCN0 and ueARFCN1 shown in FIG. 3F, or in some casesadjacent to each other, e.g., as with ueARFCN2 and ueARFCN3 shown inFIG. 3F. In some embodiments, an LTE-U frequency channel, e.g.,ueARFCN0, can be non-overlapping with and separated from frequencychannels used by a “non-cellular” wireless communication device, e.g.,the frequency channels indicated for the UNII-3 frequency band. Withsufficient frequency separation between the LTE-U frequency channel andUNII-3 frequency channels (and with sufficient attenuation of “out ofband” energy for transmissions in the LTE-U frequency channel), theLTE-U frequency channel and the UNII-3 frequency channel may be used inparallel at the same time. In some embodiments, an LTE-U frequencychannel, e.g., ueARFCN1, can overlap with one or more UNII-3 frequencychannels, e.g., CH140 and CH153, and simultaneous transmission using theLTE-U frequency channel and one or more of the UNII-3 frequency channelscan result in coexistence interference between multiple wirelesscommunication devices attempting to share the same and/or overlappingfrequency channels. In some embodiments, an LTE-U frequency channel,e.g., ueARFCN4, can be separated from but adjacent to a UNII-3 frequencychannel, e.g., CH165, and “side band” energy, from transmissions in theueARFCN4 frequency channel can result in coexistence interference withthe reception of signals in the UNII-3 frequency band channel CH165.

To mitigate interference between communication using frequency channelsin the LTE-U frequency band and communication using frequency channelsin the UNII-3 frequency band, network equipment of the cellular wirelessnetwork can coordinate transmissions by wireless communication devicesthat use the LTE-U frequency band's frequency channels. In anembodiment, a set of radio frequency channels are used in accordancewith a frequency hopping sequence by an LTE-U capable wirelesscommunication device, the frequency hopping sequence being specified byone or more control messages communicated by network equipment of thecellular wireless network to the LTE-U capable wireless communicationdevice. The network equipment can specify a particular set of frequencychannels at different radio frequencies and can communicate afrequency-hopping pattern associated with the particular set offrequency channels to the LTE-U capable wireless communication device.Network equipment and the LTE-U capable wireless communication devicecan “hop” synchronously between different frequency channels in theLTE-U frequency band as specified by the control messages. In someembodiments, all LTE-U capable wireless communication devices controlledby an eNodeB and operating in accordance with an LTE-U wirelesscommunication protocol can be configured, when using one or moresecondary component carriers in an unlicensed radio frequency band, tocommunicate (transmit or receive) over different radio frequencychannels according to a common radio frequency hopping pattern. Thus,all LTE-U capable wireless communication devices, e.g., operating undercontrol of a common eNodeB, can change between different radio frequencychannels in the LTE-U frequency band synchronously, leaving each radiofrequency channel in the LTE-U frequency band (and in parallelunlicensed radio frequency bands) free of radio transmissions by theLTE-U compliant wireless communication devices for a period of time. Thenetwork equipment of the cellular wireless network can coordinatecommunication using the secondary component carrier among all of theLTE-U capable wireless communication devices to share the radiofrequency channel when used, e.g., using a combination of time division,code division, and/or orthogonal frequency division multiplexing.Scheduling transmissions by the eNodeB (and/or by other wireless networkequipment) can provide for sharing the unlicensed radio frequency bandradio frequency channels among the LTE-U capable wireless communicationdevices efficiently. Each radio frequency channel in the LTE-U frequencyband can be available for use by the LTE-U capable wirelesscommunication devices (and associated eNodeB network equipment) for aparticular associated frequency hop duration that is specified in one ormore control messages. The frequency hop duration can, in someembodiments, extend for a time period that does not exceed a maximumtime interval according to a system frame number (SFN) counter. Forexample, for an LTE SFN of 10 bits, each increment of the SFN cancorrespond to a time unit specified by an LTE wireless communicationprotocol, e.g., a frame or a transmission time interval (TTI) or otherwell-understood time period. Frequency hop time durations can bespecified using an SFN value, e.g., an “absolute” time value and/or by anumber of SFN increments, and the eNodeB can configure the wirelesscommunication devices that use secondary component carriers in the LTE-Ufrequency band with a value for the SFN of the “next” hop, with eachLTE-U capable wireless communication device hopping synchronously to anext frequency channel together. The eNodeB can also configure the LTE-Ucapable wireless communication device with a current frequency channelto use, a next frequency channel to use, and/or with a set of radiofrequency channels to use in a particular frequency-hopping pattern. TheeNodeB can also specify time durations for each frequency channel in thefrequency hopping pattern.

In an embodiment, when a wireless communication device is configured tooperate with a secondary component carrier in an unlicensed radiofrequency band, the eNodeB can specify a frequency channel on which tooperate. The secondary cell, under the control of the eNodeB, can changethe frequency channels that it uses according to a frequency-hoppingpattern among a set of frequency channels, using each frequency channelfor a particular time duration specified by the eNodeB. In general, thefrequency channel hopping pattern can include a time duration that eachfrequency channel is used. The eNodeB can specify an “absolute” time anda frequency channel at which a “next” (i.e., subsequent and immediatelyfollowing) frequency channel is to be used for the wirelesscommunication device that is configured to operate in the unlicensedradio frequency band using the secondary component carrier. The“absolute” time can be specified using a counter value, e.g., an SFNvalue. In some embodiments, a “absolute” time value can be used to starta frequency hopping pattern, and a “relative” time value, e.g., a numberof frames or transmission time intervals or other recognized time unit,can be used to specify time period durations for each frequency channelamong which the wireless communication device (and the eNodeB) can hopaccording to a frequency-hopping pattern. In some embodiments, thefrequency-hopping pattern of frequencies and associated time values forhopping are provided by the eNodeB to the LTE-U capable wirelesscommunication devices. For example, the eNodeB can specify a pattern of{ueARFCN0, ueARFCN3, ueARFCN1, ueARFCN4, ueARFCN2} with associatedtiming values of {64, 64, 128, 64, 256}. The timing values, in anembodiment, can represent a recognized time unit, e.g., milliseconds,frames, transmission time intervals, etc. The frequency-hopping patterncan start with an initial frequency channel at a particular time, e.g.,specified by an SFN value, and can cycle through the different frequencychannels according to the frequency-hopping pattern based on timingvalues specified. The cycle of frequency hopping can repeat until a newfrequency-hopping pattern and/or a change to the existingfrequency-hopping pattern is provided by the eNodeB to the LTE-U capablewireless communication devices. Transmissions by the wirelesscommunication device(s) and the eNodeB on the secondary componentcarrier can switch between different frequency channels according to thespecified frequency-hopping pattern, e.g., based on expiration of atimer at the wireless communication device and/or a timer at the eNodeB,so that both the eNodeB and all LTE-U capable wireless communicationdevices having a secondary component carrier in the secondary cell thatuses the unlicensed radio frequency band switch to the next frequencychannel synchronously in accordance with the specified frequency-hoppingpattern. By synchronizing the eNodeB communication with all wirelesscommunication devices on the secondary component carrier to switchbetween different frequency channels at the same time, the unlicensedradio frequency spectrum of the frequency channel vacated by the LTE-Ucapable wireless communication devices can be used for a period of timeby other wireless communication devices, e.g., WLAN (Wi-Fi) devices. AnyWLAN (Wi-Fi) radio frequency channels occupied by secondary componentcarriers for a particular secondary cell of the eNodeB can becontinuously occupied at most for a single time period for a particularfrequency channel in accordance with the frequency hopping pattern.During all remaining time periods of the frequency hopping pattern, theparticular radio frequency channel can be at least in part not occupied(depending on overlapping frequency spectrum covered by the UNII-3frequency band channels and the LTE-U frequency band channels). In someembodiments, e.g., when the WLAN (Wi-Fi) device uses a wide bandwidthchannel that can span multiple LTE-U frequency band channels, thefrequency hopping pattern can preferentially hop to “widely separated”frequency channels, at least as possible within a set of frequencychannels available to the eNodeB, to minimize the probability of“continuous” or length time periods of coexistence interference betweencommunication on the LTE-U frequency channels and on the WLAN (Wi-Fi)frequency channel. In some embodiments, the eNodeB can provide multiplesecondary cells that each use different sets of LTE-U frequencychannels, each with their own frequency hopping pattern. In someembodiments, the eNodeB can provide multiple secondary cells that eachuse a common set of LTE-U frequency channels but only hop to a subset ofthe common set of frequency channels for a particular frequency hoppingpattern. In some embodiments, the eNodeB can select a frequency hoppingpattern based on detection of a set frequencies at which WLANcoexistence interference can likely occur, e.g., based on radiofrequency measurements of various spectral bands by the eNodeB and/or bywireless communication devices in communication with the eNodeB. TheeNodeB can select radio frequency channels in the LTE-U frequency bandhaving a “least likelihood” of interfering with radio frequency channelsused by non-cellular wireless devices in the unlicensed radio frequencyband. In some embodiments, the eNodeB adapts the set of LTE-U frequencychannels used, the frequency hopping pattern used, the time duration forone or more LTE-U frequency channels of the frequency hopping pattern,or a combination of these based on a detection of WLAN frequencychannels (or frequency bandwidth) used and/or based on informationprovided and/or obtained from other network elements and/or from theLTE-U capable wireless communication devices.

FIG. 3G illustrates a diagram 370 of a time-division multiplexing schemethat can be used to mitigate coexistence interference between a set ofone or more LTE-U capable wireless communication devices and othernon-cellular wireless communication devices that share an unlicensedradio frequency band, in accordance with some embodiments. (In someembodiments, a multi-mode wireless communication device that includes acellular wireless subsystem and a WLAN wireless subsystem can beconfigured to operate in a “non-cellular” mode, e.g., connected via aWLAN, in which case, such a configured multi-mode wireless communicationdevice can also be considered a “non-cellular” wireless communicationdevice, at least when so configured, e.g., when not actively connectedwith a cellular wireless network.) As described herein, wirelesscommunication devices that operate in unlicensed radio frequency bandsin accordance with a wireless local area networking (WLAN) wirelesscommunication protocol, e.g., a Wi-Fi wireless communication protocol,can use a random access procedure that “senses” the presence of radiofrequency transmissions in a radio frequency channel before attemptingcommunication and “backs off” for a random time interval if anotherwireless communication device is determined to be transmitting on theradio frequency channel. To provide for gaps of time, in which a set ofLTE-U capable wireless communication devices do not transmit or receivecommunication using one or more radio frequency channels in theunlicensed radio frequency band, e.g., for a radio frequency channelassociated with a secondary component carrier of a secondary cell usedfor carrier aggregation by a wireless cellular network, the eNodeB ofthe secondary cell, and all wireless communication devices using thesecondary component carrier of the secondary cell, can be synchronizedto alternate between “active” time periods 372 and “inactive” timeperiods 374, e.g., as illustrated by the diagram 370 of FIG. 3G. Duringan “active” time period 372, the eNodeB and/or one or more of the LTE-Ucapable wireless communication devices can be scheduled to transmit orreceive via the secondary component carrier of the secondary cell thatoperates in the unlicensed radio frequency band. The eNodeB can schedulethe transmissions during the “active” time periods 372 to ensure thattransmissions of multiple LTE-U capable wireless communication devicesdo not overlap or interfere with each other. During the “active” timeperiod 273, however, transmissions of non-cellular wirelesscommunication devices that share at least a portion of the samefrequency channel in the unlicensed radio frequency band as used by thesecondary component carrier can be impacted, depending on levels ofcoexistence interference that the non-cellular wireless communicationdevices experience. As illustrated in FIG. 3G, all LTE-U wirelesscommunication devices, including the eNodeB, can share the secondarycomponent carrier frequency channel during an active time period 372 andcan be silent (i.e., not transmit or receive using the secondarycomponent carrier frequency channel) during an inactive time period 374.The set of LTE-U capable wireless communication devices can besynchronized to be “on” and “off” during the same time periods in orderto provide “quiet” time intervals during which non-cellular wirelesscommunication devices can communicate, e.g., wireless device 268connected to WLAN access point 264 as illustrated in FIG. 2D. The eNodeBcan schedule and communicate how and when to use of the secondarycomponent carrier in the unlicensed radio frequency band through controlmessages communicated over a primary component carrier in a licensedradio frequency band, which can be separate from and not interfere withthe unlicensed radio frequency band communication. The LTE-U capablewireless communication devices that are configured to use a secondarycomponent carrier in a secondary cell will also be connected with anassociated eNodeB through a primary component carrier in an licensedradio frequency band, and the primary component carrier can be notsubject to the time based sharing shown in FIG. 3G for the secondarycomponent carrier in the unlicensed radio frequency band. In someembodiments, all secondary cells controlled by an eNodeB and operatingin an unlicensed radio frequency band can be subject to time sharing,and all LTE-U capable wireless communication devices that use thesecondary component carrier in the secondary cell can be subject to timesharing according to a common schedule, i.e., simultaneously silentduring the inactive time periods 374, and scheduled to communicate (asindicated by an eNodeB) during the active time periods 372. In someembodiments, the eNodeB indicates to an LTE-U capable wirelesscommunication device that a secondary cell operates in an unlicensedradio frequency band and is subject to time sharing, e.g., using controlmessages at the radio resource control (RRC) layer. In some embodiments,configuration commands used for dedicated secondary cells and/or forcommon secondary cells, e.g., radioResourceConfigDedicatedSCell and/orradioResourceConfigCommonSCell commands, can include fields, informationelements, or other designated blocks, that can provide information aboutthe radio frequency channels of an unlicensed radio frequency band. Insome embodiments, an eNodeB can activate and deactivate an LTE-Usecondary cell for use with one or more LTE-U capable wirelesscommunication devices using a medium access control (MAC) controlelement. The eNodeB can configure each LTE-U secondary cell with a setof timers and a starting time, e.g., using SFN values. In someembodiments, a set of “absolute” times specified by SFN timer values canindicate when “ON” cycles and/or “OFF” cycles for the LTE-U secondarycell can occur. In some embodiments, the SFN timer value can provide anindication of the beginning of an “ON” cycle and/or the beginning of an“OFF” cycle, and another set of indicators can provide the length of the“ON” cycles and/or the length of the “OFF” cycles. In some embodiments,the eNodeB and the LTE-U capable wireless communication devices canmaintain one or timers that can provide an indication of an LTE-U ONtime for the secondary cell, i.e., the start of the active time period372, as indicated in FIG. 3G, and an indication of an LTE-U OFF time forthe secondary cell, i.e., the start of the inactive time period 374. TheLTE-U capable wireless communication devices can communicate with aneNodeB using a primary component carrier of a primary cell during theinactive time periods and can communicate using a combination of theprimary component carrier in a licensed radio frequency band and anLTE-U secondary component carrier in an unlicensed radio frequency bandduring the active time periods. The ON/OFF cycle indicated in FIG. 3Gcan apply to all secondary cells for a particular eNodeB, to aparticular secondary cell for a particular eNodeB, to any secondary cellin an unlicensed radio frequency band within a particular geographicarea, to a set of secondary cells in an unlicensed radio frequency band,to a set of secondary cells that share a common frequency channel in anunlicensed radio frequency band, to a set of secondary cells that sharea set of common frequency channels in an unlicensed radio frequency band(e.g., a set of unlicensed radio frequency band frequency channels usedwith a frequency-hopping pattern), or to a particular frequency channelor set of frequency channels specified by an eNodeB, which cancorrespond to one or more secondary cells. The eNodeB can manage the useof radio frequency channels in the unlicensed radio frequency banddynamically, e.g., changing over time of day, day of week, based onloading conditions, based on measured and/or reported interferencelevels, or based on other performance metrics for radio frequencyinterference and/or network operating conditions. In some embodiments,an inactive time period 374 can span a time sufficient for a WLAN(Wi-Fi) wireless communication device to sense the radio frequencychannel's availability and transmit successfully one or more wirelesspackets according to a WLAN (Wi-Fi) wireless communication protocol. Inan embodiment, the inactive time period is at least 20 milliseconds. Inanother embodiment, the inactive time period is at least 40milliseconds. In some embodiments, the inactive time periods' lengthsand/or the active time periods' lengths are determined dynamically bythe eNodeB or by other network equipment of the cellular wirelessnetwork.

A cellular wireless network can use a set of access network discoveryand selection function (ANDSF) policy objects to provide for managementof radio frequency channels in unlicensed radio frequency bands, inaddition to radio frequency channels in licensed radio frequency bands.In some embodiments, existing ANDSF policy objects can be extended toinclude fields to specify properties of cells and/or frequency channelsin unlicensed radio frequency bands. ANDSF policies can be managedand/or controlled by one or more network equipment entities in anevolved packet core (EPC) of an LTE/LTE-A cellular wireless network. TheANDSF policies can provide functions by which a wireless communicationdevice can discover and select access networks for communication,including in some embodiments, non-3GPP wireless access networks, e.g.,WLANs. A wireless communication device can include ANDSF policy elementsthat can provide for “inter-system” mobility and “inter-system” routingbehaviors according to an Intersystem Mobility Policy (ISMP) and anIntersystem Routing Policy (ISRP). Using the ISMP and ISRP rules, awireless communication device can re-select between different wirelessnetworks, e.g., transfer a connection between a cellular wirelessnetwork and a non-cellular wireless network, and/or offload all or aportion of communication between a cellular wireless network and anon-cellular wireless network. ANDSF policy rules can be provisioned bywireless network operators to a wireless communication device using anOpen Mobile Alliance (OMA) device management (DM) protocol. OMA-DMprotocols can provide for provisioning, configuring, feature enabling,feature disabling, device upgrading, fault detection, fault reporting,and/or other wireless communication device management functions. In someembodiments, an ISMP defines network selection rules for a wirelesscommunication device that can have no more than one active networkconnection at a time, e.g., to an LTE/LTE-A cellular wireless network orto a non-cellular, e.g., WLAN/Wi-Fi, wireless network. The ISMP rulescan provide for “mobility” to move connections of a wirelesscommunication device between the LTE/LTE-A cellular wireless network andthe non-cellular wireless network, e.g., in either direction. The ISRPrules can provide for network selection by a wireless communicationdevice that can support multiple active network connections, e.g., to anLTE/LTE-A cellular wireless network and to a non-cellular WLAN/Wi-Fwireless network, simultaneously. The ISRP rules can provide for“offloading” of data communication from the cellular wireless network tothe non-cellular wireless network, in some embodiments.

An ANDSF mobility object policy extension for ISMP can includeinformation about interference levels in one or more cells and/orloading for cells and/or access network nodes (e.g., eNodeBs) that canbe used by network equipment and/or by wireless communication devices todetermine behavior associated with network selection/re-selection. Forexample, ISMP rules can be added to one or more policies includinginformation concerning cell identifiers (cell IDs) for one or moredifferent cells that use unlicensed radio frequency bands. The ISMPpolicies can also be extended to include information about levels ofinterference in unlicensed radio frequency channels and/or acrossunlicensed radio frequency bands or portions thereof used for LTE-Ucommunication by one or more secondary cells. The ISMP policies can alsobe extended to include information about levels of interference inunlicensed radio frequency channels and/or across unlicensed radiofrequency bands or portions thereof used for WLAN (Wi-Fi) communication.Policy rules can be extended to provide for WLAN reselection thataccount for LTE-U interference levels and/or WLAN (Wi-Fi) interferencelevels. In some embodiments, reselection rules for reselecting from acellular wireless network to a WLAN can include a level of LTE-Uinterference in radio frequency channels shared by WLAN channels. WhenLTE-U interference is high in WLAN channels, e.g., LTE-U channelsdeployed by a wireless network provider can interfere with managed orunmanaged WLANs, the wireless communication device can be directed,using the policy rules, to not reselect to one or more WLANs. In someembodiments, reselection and/or offloading rules can account forexisting WLAN interference and/or LTE-U loading, and when the WLANinterference levels are high and/or the LTE-U loading levels are high,an eNodeB can be configured to not offload communication of one or morewireless communication devices from the cellular wireless network to theLTE-U wireless network or to a WLAN. In some embodiments, LTE-Uinterference levels can be measured by network equipment, e.g., eNodeB'sin an access portion of the cellular wireless network, and/or bywireless communication devices that report to eNodeB's of the cellularwireless network. Similarly, WLAN interference can be measured for oneor more LTE-U radio frequency channels of interest. The eNodeB's canalso keep track of LTE-U loading in the cellular wireless network (i.e.,loading of radio frequency channels in the unlicensed radio frequencyband used for one or more secondary cells by the eNodeBs). In someembodiments, a new radio access technology “destination” can be added tospecify an LTE-U (LTE-Unlicensed) RAT as one of a list of destinationsindicated in one or more RRC rules. Parameters for LTE-U interference,WLAN interference, LTE-U loading, LTE-U RAT destinations, and/or LTE-Ucell identifiers can be provided by an eNodeB to wireless communicationdevices using one or more dedicated control messages (e.g., via an RRCconnection) and/or system information block (SIB) messages. In someembodiments, information about existing, current, past, predicted,and/or estimated levels of interference (LTE-U and/or WLAN) onunlicensed radio frequency channels and/or in unlicensed radio frequencybands can be provided to wireless communication devices by the eNodeBand/or can be measured by wireless communication devices and provided tothe eNodeB. In some embodiments, an eNodeB can measure interferencelevels, e.g. from WLAN transmissions and/or from LTE-U transmissions andcan provide the information to the wireless communication devices. Insome embodiments, an eNodeB can provide configuration information to oneor more wireless communication devices to measure interference levels onone or more radio frequency channels in one or more unlicensed radiofrequency bands. In some embodiments, the wireless communication devicecan receive a list of WLAN radio frequency channels in an unlicensedradio frequency band that the eNodeB plans to use for “managed” WLANdeployments and/or for “scheduled” LTE-U secondary cells. The LTE-Ucapable wireless communication device can measure interference levels inone or more of the unlicensed radio frequency band's radio frequencychannels specified by the eNodeB, e.g., interference levels from otherwireless network providers, from WLAN access points, from WLAN clientdevices, or from other overlapping cells of the wireless networkprovider that can share the unlicensed radio frequency band. The LTE-Ucapable wireless communication device can provide all or part of themeasured interference information to the eNodeB's. In some embodiments,the LTE-U capable wireless communication device includes a WLAN wirelesssubsystem (including a transceiver), which can be used to measureinterference in unlicensed radio frequency band radio frequencychannels, as seen by a WLAN transceiver, and the measured interferenceinformation from the WLAN transceiver can be provided by a cellularwireless subsystem of the LTE-U capable wireless communication device tothe eNodeB's.

An ANDSF policy object for offloading, e.g., as specified in an ISRP,can include rules for offloading that extends to LTE-U capable wirelesscommunication devices. In some embodiments, offloading rules can beprovided by a cellular wireless network to a wireless communicationdevice including specific assistance information about wireless networkconfigurations and/or conditions, e.g., frequency bands used, frequencychannels used, etc. In some embodiments, the LTE-U capable wirelesscommunication device can determine whether reselection to a WLAN and/oroffloading to a WLAN can be accomplished using the network providedassistance information. The LTE-U capable wireless communication devicecan make decisions on reselection and/or offloading based on the networkinformation in conjunction with one or more rules provided by thecellular wireless network, as well as on measurements performed byand/or provided to the wireless communication device. In someembodiments, an LTE-U capable wireless communication device includes anLTE wireless subsystem and a WLAN wireless subsystem, which can each beused separately or in parallel. In some embodiments, the LTE-U capablewireless communication device can obtain information about operatingconditions from the LTE wireless subsystem and/or the WLAN wirelesssubsystem, including across one or more radio frequency channels in anunlicensed radio frequency band, in order to determine whether toperform network reselection and/or network offloading. For example, aWLAN wireless subsystem can provide information about WLAN conditionsfrom the perspective of communication using WLAN wireless communicationprotocols to the LTE wireless subsystem. The LTE wireless subsystem canuse the WLAN wireless subsystem's provided information in conjunctionwith information (e.g., measurements) that the LTE wireless subsystemperforms to determine reselection and/or offloading actions. In someembodiments, the wireless communication device provides information(e.g., measurements from an LTE wireless subsystem and/or from a WLANwireless subsystem) to the eNodeB (or other equivalent access networkequipment), and the eNodeB makes a determination about reselectionand/or offloading between the cellular wireless network and a WLANnetwork. The eNodeB can use information provided by multiple wirelesscommunication devices that can communicate via a secondary componentcarrier in a secondary cell to inform decisions for reselection and/oroffloading for a wireless communication device (i.e., the eNodeB canhave access to information not available direction to the wirelesscommunication device). In some embodiments, an ISRP can be extended toinclude information about interference levels in LTE-U frequencychannels or frequency bands, interference levels in WLAN frequencychannels or frequency bands, and network equipment loading in LTE-Ufrequency channels or frequency bands. In some embodiments, the ISRPextensions can include specific information about LTE-U interference,WLAN interference, and/or LTE-U loading, for each of several differentservice types, e.g., for “flow based” routing, for “service based”routing, and/or for “non-seamless” offloading. Information for each typeof interference and/or loading can be provided for different flowrouting types and/or offloading types for an ANDSF ISRP.

FIG. 4A illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus 400 that can beimplemented on an LTE-U capable wireless communication device, inaccordance with some example embodiments. It will be appreciated thatthe components, devices or elements illustrated in and described withrespect to FIG. 4A may not be mandatory and thus some may be omitted incertain embodiments. Additionally, some embodiments can include furtheror different components, devices or elements beyond those illustrated inand described with respect to FIG. 4A. Further, it will be appreciatedthat, in some example embodiments, one or more components of theapparatus 400 can be distributed across a plurality of computing devicesthat can collectively provide the functionality of an LTE-U capablewireless communication device to operate using multiple radio frequencybands, including carrier aggregation via a primary component carrier ina licensed radio frequency band and a secondary component carrier in anunlicensed radio frequency band. The apparatus 400 can provide formanagement of communication in licensed and unlicensed radio frequencybands simultaneously. The apparatus 400 can also provide for reselectionand/or offloading between a cellular wireless network and a non-cellularwireless network. The apparatus 400 can further provide for time sharingof frequency channels (and/or frequency bandwidth) in an unlicensedradio frequency band between an LTE-U capable wireless communicationdevice and other “non-cellular” wireless communication devicesconfigured to share the same unlicensed radio frequency band. Theapparatus 400 can additionally provide for frequency hopping amongmultiple frequency channels in accordance with information provided bynetwork equipment of a cellular wireless network.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus 400 can include processingcircuitry 410 that is configurable to perform actions in accordance withone or more example embodiments disclosed herein. In this regard, theprocessing circuitry 410 can be configured to perform and/or controlperformance of one or more functionalities of the apparatus 400 inaccordance with various example embodiments, and thus can provide meansfor performing functionalities of the apparatus 400 in accordance withvarious example embodiments. The processing circuitry 410 can beconfigured to perform data processing, application execution and/orother processing and management services according to one or moreexample embodiments.

In some embodiments, the apparatus 400 or a portion(s) or component(s)thereof, such as the processing circuitry 410, can include one or morechipsets, which can each include one or more chips. The processingcircuitry 410 and/or one or more further components of the apparatus 400can therefore, in some instances, be configured to implement anembodiment on a chipset comprising one or more chips. In some exampleembodiments in which one or more components of the apparatus 400 areembodied as a chipset, the chipset can be capable of enabling acomputing device(s) to operate as an LTE-U capable wirelesscommunication device, operating using radio frequency channels in anunlicensed radio frequency band together with radio frequency channelsin a licensed radio frequency band using carrier aggregation across thelicensed and unlicensed radio frequency bands, when implemented on orotherwise operably coupled to the computing device(s). In someembodiments, the processing circuitry 410 can include a processor 402and, in some embodiments, such as that illustrated in FIG. 4A, canfurther include memory 404. The processing circuitry 410 can be incommunication with or otherwise control multiple wireless subsystems,including a cellular wireless subsystem 408, which can include acellular baseband processor 414, and a WLAN wireless subsystem 412,which can include a WLAN baseband processor 416. The processingcircuitry 410 can be also in communication with a dual wireless manager406, which can provide rules and/or actions to manage connections usingthe cellular wireless subsystem 408 and the WLAN wireless subsystem 412.

The processor 402 can be embodied in a variety of forms. For example,the processor 402 can be embodied as various processing hardware-basedmeans such as a microprocessor, a coprocessor, a controller or variousother computing or processing devices including integrated circuits suchas, for example, an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit), anFPGA (field programmable gate array), some combination thereof, or thelike. Although illustrated as a single processor, it will be appreciatedthat the processor 402 can comprise a plurality of processors. Theplurality of processors can be in operative communication with eachother and can be collectively configured to perform one or morefunctionalities of the apparatus 400 as described herein. In embodimentsincluding a plurality of processors, the plurality of processors can beimplemented on a single computing device, or can be distributed across aplurality of computing devices that can collectively providefunctionality of an LTE-U capable wireless communication device. In someexample embodiments, the processor 402 can be configured to executeinstructions that can be stored in the memory 404 or that can beotherwise accessible to the processor 402. As such, whether configuredby hardware or by a combination of hardware and software, the processor402 can be capable of performing operations according to variousembodiments while configured accordingly.

In some example embodiments, the memory 404 can include one or morememory devices. Memory 404 can include fixed and/or removable memorydevices. In some embodiments, the memory 404 can provide anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium that can store computerprogram instructions that can be executed by the processor 402. In thisregard, the memory 404 can be configured to store information, data,applications, instructions and/or the like for enabling the apparatus400 to carry out various functions in accordance with one or moreexample embodiments. In embodiments including a plurality of memorydevices, the plurality of memory devices can be implemented on a singlecomputing device, or can be distributed across a plurality of computingdevices that can collectively provide functionality of an LTE-U capablewireless communication device. In some embodiments, the memory 404 canbe in communication with one or more of the processor 402, the dualwireless manager module 406, the cellular wireless subsystem 408, and/orthe WLAN wireless subsystem 412 via one or more busses for passinginformation among components of the apparatus 400.

The apparatus 400 can further include multiple wireless subsystems,e.g., the cellular wireless subsystem 408 and the WLAN wirelesssubsystem 412. The wireless subsystems 408/412 can include one or moremechanisms for enabling communication with other wireless communicationdevices and/or wireless networks. For example, the WLAN wirelesssubsystem 412 can be configured to enable the apparatus 400 tocommunicate over a WLAN. The apparatus 400 can include multiple wirelesssubsystems, which can each provide communication in accordance with awireless communication protocol. In some embodiments, the multiplewireless subsystems, e.g., cellular wireless subsystem 408 and WLANwireless subsystem 412, of the apparatus 400 can communicate with eachother directly via a communication path 418 or indirectly throughcommunication with the processing circuitry 410.

The apparatus 400 can further include a dual wireless manager module406. The dual wireless manager module 406 can be embodied as variousmeans, such as circuitry, hardware, a computer program productcomprising computer readable program instructions stored on anon-transitory computer readable medium (for example, the memory 404)and executed by a processing device (for example, the processor 402), orsome combination thereof. In some embodiments, the processor 402 (or theprocessing circuitry 410) can include, or otherwise control the dualwireless manager module 406. The dual wireless manager module 406 can beconfigured to support wireless communication using multiple wirelesscommunication protocols and/or using a wireless communication protocolthat supports communication using multiple radio frequency bands,including but not limited to communication using a licensed radiofrequency band channel and an unlicensed radio frequency band channeltogether via carrier aggregation. The dual wireless manager module 406can also be configured to provide management of communication using themultiple wireless subsystems 408/412, e.g., to mitigate coexistenceinterference between them and/or with other wireless communicationdevices that share an unlicensed radio frequency band.

FIG. 4B illustrates a block diagram 450 of components of a wirelesscommunication device (e.g., a UE 106, an LTE compliant UE 204/208, anLTE-A compliant UE 206, an LTE-U compliant UE 252) including processingcircuitry 410 having one or more processor(s) 402 and a memory 404, anda cellular wireless subsystem 408 having an cellular baseband processor414, one or more transceiver(s) 448 and a set of RF analog front endcircuitry 446. The cellular wireless subsystem 408 can include an RFfront end 436 that includes a set of one or more antennas, e.g., aprimary antenna 438 and a diversity antenna 440, which can beinterconnected with supporting RF circuitry, e.g., a primary RF Tx/Rx1442 component block and a diversity RF Rx2 444 component block. Theprimary RF Tx/Rx1 442 component block can include filters and otheranalog components that can be “tuned” to match transmission and/orreception of analog signals via a corresponding antenna, e.g., primaryantenna 438, diversity antenna 440, or both primary and diversityantennas 338/440. In some embodiments, the RF front end 436 can becontrolled by signals (e.g., digital control signals) communicated fromthe cellular baseband processor 414 and/or the processing circuitry 402,either directly from the processor(s) 402/414 or indirectly via anothercomponent in the cellular wireless subsystem 408.

The processing circuitry 410 and/or the cellular baseband processor 414can be configured to perform and/or control performance of one or morefunctionalities of the wireless communication device in accordance withvarious implementations. The processing circuitry 410 and/or processingcircuitry in the cellular wireless subsystem 408 can providefunctionality for operating the cellular wireless subsystem tocommunicate using multiple component carriers via carrier aggregationacross both licensed and unlicensed radio frequency bands, e.g., byexecuting instructions in the processor 402 and/or in the cellularbaseband processor 414, in accordance with one or more embodiments. Inthis regard, the processing circuitry 410 and/or the cellular basebandprocessor 414 can be configured to perform and/or control performance ofone or more functionalities of the wireless communication device inaccordance with various implementations, and thus can providefunctionality operation in accordance with carrier aggregation usingunlicensed and licensed radio frequency bands in parallel. Theprocessing circuitry 410 may further be configured to perform dataprocessing, application execution, and/or other device functionsaccording to one or more embodiments of the disclosure.

The wireless communication device, or portions or components thereof,such as the processing circuitry 410 and the cellular baseband processor414, can include one or more chipsets, which can respectively includeany number of coupled microchips thereon. The processing circuitry 410,the cellular baseband processor 414, and/or one or more other componentsof the wireless communication device may also be configured to implementfunctions associated with various procedures to manage and/or operateusing combinations of licensed and unlicensed radio frequency bands.

In some embodiments, the processor(s) 402/414 may be configured in avariety of different forms. For example, the processor(s) 404/410 may beassociated with any number of microprocessors, co-processors,controllers, or various other computing or processing implements,including integrated circuits such as, for example, an applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array(FPGA), or any combination thereof. In various scenarios, multipleprocessors 404/410 of the wireless communication device can be coupledto and/or configured in operative communication with each other, andthese components may be collectively configured to methods for themanagement and use of multiple radio frequency channels in carrieraggregation schemes that use both unlicensed and licensed radiofrequency bands in parallel as described further herein.

It should be appreciated that not all of the components, deviceelements, and hardware illustrated in and described with respect to thewireless communication device 450 of FIG. 4B may be essential to thisdisclosure, and thus, some of these items may be omitted, consolidated,or otherwise modified within reason. Additionally, in someimplementations, the subject matter associated with the wirelesscommunication device can be configured to include additional orsubstitute components, device elements, or hardware, beyond thosedepicted within the illustrations of FIG. 4B.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram 500 of control signaling and datacommunication using both a primary component carrier (PCC) 502, (whichcan include both downlink and uplink communication with a particular“primary” cell of a wireless network), and a secondary component carrier(SCC) 504, (which can provide downlink communication from anotherparticular “secondary” cell of the wireless network). Control planesignaling, e.g., for non-access stratum (NAS) signaling and radioresource control (RRC) signaling, can be communicated between thewireless network via the primary component carrier to a wirelesscommunication device, e.g., user equipment (UE) 506. The UE 506 caninclude an LTE and/or LTE-A compliant and/or LTE-U compliant wirelesscommunication device as described elsewhere herein capable ofcommunicating with one or more eNodeB (base stations) of a wirelessnetwork operating in accordance with LTE, LTE-A, and/or LTE-U wirelesscommunication protocols. The UE 506 can be capable of communicating withthe wireless network via both the PCC 502 and the SCC 504simultaneously, e.g., using LTE-A carrier aggregation radio accesstechnology (RAT) and/or using LTE-U carrier aggregation RAT (e.g., inboth licensed and unlicensed radio frequency bands simultaneously). Insome embodiments, downlink (DL) data is communicated from the wirelessnetwork to the UE 506 using both the PCC 502 and the SCC 504simultaneously, i.e., employing a form of carrier aggregation asspecified in various LTE/LTE-A wireless communication protocols, toprovide an increased bandwidth and increased downlink data rate and/orthroughput performance. In some embodiments, uplink (UL) data iscommunicated from the UE 506 to the wireless network using only the PCC502 (and not the SCC 504) in accordance with one or more LTE/LTE-Awireless communication protocols. Thus, in some embodiments, the UE 506can be configured to use carrier aggregation modes that use multipleparallel frequency carriers in shared, adjacent, or distinct frequencybands in the downlink direction and a single frequency carrier in theuplink direction. In some embodiments, all level 1 (L1) physical (PHY)layer control data communication 510 is communicated via the PCC 502,e.g., by a default configuration and/or in accordance with LTE/LTE-Awireless communication protocols. In some embodiments, coordination ofthe communication of packet data to and from the UE via the PCC 502 andthe SCC 504 through two separate cells can be provided using an“inter-cell” communication link 514 between the cells. In someembodiments, control plane signaling can be used to activate anddeactivate the use of secondary cells in unlicensed radio frequencybands. In some embodiments, control plane signaling can be used toprovide information about secondary cells available for communication inunlicensed radio frequency bands, including for example rules for timesharing of frequency channels and/or frequency hopping among multiplefrequency channels in the unlicensed radio frequency bands.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart 600 depicting a method for managing radiofrequency communication using multiple radio frequency channels inlicensed and/or unlicensed radio frequency bands, in accordance withvarious embodiments of the disclosure. In a first step 602, an LTE-Ucapable wireless communication device obtains one or more ANDSF policiesfor mobility between radio frequency channels in licensed radiofrequency bands and radio frequency channels in unlicensed radiofrequency bands. In a subsequent step 604, the LTE-U capable wirelesscommunication device obtains one or more ANDSF policies for offloadingtraffic from the radio frequency channels in the licensed radiofrequency bands to the radio frequency channels in the unlicensed radiofrequency bands. In some embodiments, the LTE-U capable wirelesscommunication device obtains the ANDSF policies from access networkequipment of a wireless network, e.g., from an eNodeB. In someembodiments, the ANDSF policies are provided during provisioning and/orduring software updating of the LTE-U capable wireless communicationdevice. In step 606, the LTE-U capable wireless communication devicemonitors radio frequency interference levels in one or more radiofrequency channels of the unlicensed radio frequency bands. In someembodiments, the LTE-U capable wireless communication device uses acellular wireless subsystem and/or a wireless local area networksubsystem to monitor the radio frequency interference levels in the oneor more radio frequency channels of the unlicensed radio frequencybands. In step 608, the LTE-U capable wireless communication deviceobtains loading information for one or more radio frequency channels inthe unlicensed radio frequency bands. In step 610, the LTE-U capablewireless communication device determines whether the monitored radiofrequency interference levels and the loading information indicate thatat least one radio frequency channel in the unlicensed radio frequencyband is available for offloading in accordance with the one or moreANDSF policies for offloading traffic. When the monitored radiofrequency interference levels and the loading information indicate thatat least one radio frequency channel in the unlicensed radio frequencyband is available for offloading in accordance with the one or moreANDSF policies for offloading traffic, in step 612, the LTE-U capablewireless communication device transfers at least a portion of datacommunication traffic from a radio frequency channel in the licensedradio frequency band to the at least one radio frequency channel in theunlicensed radio frequency band. In some embodiments, the LTE-U capablewireless communication device determines availability of a radiofrequency channel for offloading based on control messages communicatedfrom the eNodeB of the wireless network, e.g., as part of one or moreradio resource control (RRC) messages and/or as part of one or moresystem information broadcast (SIB) messages. In some embodiments, theLTE-U capable wireless communication device provides information aboutmeasured and/or estimated radio frequency interference levels for atleast one RF channel in the unlicensed radio frequency band to theeNodeB of the wireless network. In some embodiments, the LTE-U wirelesscommunication device determines whether one or more radio frequencychannels in the unlicensed radio frequency band is available foroffloading by comparing loading levels for the one or more radiofrequency channels to a set of one or more loading threshold levels. Insome embodiments, the LTE-U wireless communication device determineswhether one or more radio frequency channels in the unlicensed radiofrequency band is available for offloading by comparing measured levelsof radio frequency interference to a set of one or more interferencethreshold levels. In some embodiments, the at least one RF channel inthe unlicensed radio frequency band operate in accordance with anLTE/LTE-A/LTE-U wireless communication protocol and overlap with atleast one RF channel in the unlicensed radio frequency band used forcommunication in accordance with a Wi-Fi wireless communicationprotocol. In some embodiments, the ANDSF policies are broadcast by theeNodeB of the wireless network using RRC signaling messages, e.g. one ormore system information block (SIB) messages. In some embodiments, theANDSF policies include lists of WLAN frequency channels available formanaged WLAN communication in the unlicensed radio frequency band. Insome embodiments, the ANDSF policies include lists of RF channels in theunlicensed radio frequency band available for LTE-U communication.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart 700 depicting a method for time divisionmultiplexing coexistence for wireless communication devices, inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. In step 702, anLTE-U capable wireless communication device establishes a connectionwith an eNodeB of a cellular wireless network using a primary componentcarrier (PCC) of a primary cell in a licensed radio frequency (RF) band.In some embodiments, the connection includes a radio resource control(RRC) signaling connection between the LTE-U capable wirelesscommunication device and the eNodeB to provide for control of one ormore component carriers used for carrier aggregation. In step 704, theLTE-U capable wireless communication device obtains a configuration fora secondary cell from the eNodeB. The secondary cell, in someembodiments, operates using one or more radio frequency channels in anunlicensed radio frequency band. In some embodiments, the configurationincludes a set of timers that indicate an “on” cycle and an “off” cyclefor time division based coexistence of transmission over the one or moreradio frequency channels of the secondary cell and transmission overparallel radio frequency channels used by non-cellular wirelesscommunication devices, e.g., wireless local area network devicesoperating in accordance with Wi-Fi wireless communication protocols. Insome embodiments, the set of timers include information for startingtimes and ending times for the “on” and “off” cycles of the secondarycell. In some embodiments, the starting and ending times are specifiedusing one or more system frame number (SFN) values. In some embodiments,the LTE-U capable wireless communication device maintains a start timerthat provides an indication for a start for each “on” cycle and a stoptimer that provides an indication for a start of each “off” cycle forcommunication via the secondary component carrier in the secondary cell.In some embodiments, all LTE-U capable wireless communication devicesconfigured to use the secondary component carrier are synchronized tothe same “on” and “off” cycles based on configuration informationprovided by the eNodeB. In step 706, the LTE-U capable wirelesscommunication device transmits to the eNodeB or receives from the eNodeBcommunication via the secondary component carrier of the secondary cellduring at least one “on” cycle. In step 708, the LTE-U capable wirelessdevice inhibits (or refrains from) communication with the eNodeB via thesecondary component carrier of the secondary cell during each “off”cycle. In some embodiments, each “off” cycle spans a time period that issufficient for a WLAN device, e.g., operating in accordance with a Wi-Fiwireless communication protocol, to sense availability of a radiofrequency channel in the unlicensed radio frequency band that overlapsat least in part with the secondary component carrier and to transmit atleast one data packet via the radio frequency channel in the unlicensedradio frequency band. In some embodiments, the “off” cycle spans atleast 20 milliseconds or at least 40 milliseconds. In some embodiments,configuration for the secondary cell is broadcast by the eNodeB to theLTE-U capable wireless communication device using one or more systeminformation (SIB) messages. In some embodiments, the configuration forthe secondary cell is communicated by the eNodeB to the LTE-U capablewireless communication device using one or more radio resource control(RRC) signaling messages. In some embodiments, “on” and “off” cycles forall secondary cells for an eNodeB use a common timing pattern. In someembodiments, each secondary cell for the eNodeB use different timingpatterns for their respective “on” and “off” cycles. During “off”cycles, the LTE-U capable wireless device communicates with the eNodeBusing radio frequency resources in the licensed radio frequency band andnot in the unlicensed radio frequency band, e.g., using the primarycomponent carrier of the primary cell.

FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart 800 depicting a method for frequencyhopping coexistence for wireless communication devices, in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosure. In a first step 802, an LTE-Ucapable wireless communication device establishes a connection with aneNodeB of a wireless network using a primary component carrier (PCC) ina licensed radio frequency band. In some embodiments, the connectionincludes a radio resource control (RRC) signaling connection between theLTE-U capable wireless communication device and the eNodeB to providefor control of one or more component carriers used for carrieraggregation. In step 804, the LTE-U capable wireless communicationdevice obtains a configuration for a secondary cell from the eNodeB. Thesecondary cell, in some embodiments, operates using a set of radiofrequency channels in an unlicensed radio frequency band. In someembodiments, the configuration includes a frequency hopping pattern forthe set of frequency channels, or for a subset of the set of frequencychannels, wherein the frequency hopping pattern specifies a sequence offrequency channels to use by the LTE-U capable wireless communicationdevice during each successive hop of the frequency hopping pattern. Eachfrequency channel can be in an unlicensed radio frequency (RF) band, andthe LTE-U capable wireless communication device can switch betweendifferent radio frequency channels based on the frequency hoppingpattern specified by the eNodeB. In some embodiments, the frequencyhopping pattern is communicated to the LTE-U capable wirelesscommunication device in a broadcast system information block (SIB)message or in one or more RRC signaling messages. In some embodiments,the frequency hopping pattern changes over time, e.g., based onoperating conditions of the secondary cell in which the frequencyhopping pattern applies and/or based on loading conditions for frequencychannels and/or based on measured radio frequency interference obtainedby the eNodeB. In some embodiments, the LTE-U capable wirelesscommunication device measures radio frequency interference in one ormore RF channels of the unlicensed radio frequency band and providesinformation about the measured radio frequency interference to theeNodeB, which in turn determines a frequency hopping pattern (e.g., aset of RF channels, a sequence for the set of RF channels, times forusing each RF channel in the set of RF channels, etc.) based at least inpart on the information about radio frequency interference obtained. Instep 806, the LTE-U capable wireless communication device transmits toor receives from the eNodeB via a secondary component carrier (SCC)during a first hop of the frequency hopping pattern, e.g., on a firstfrequency channel specified by the frequency hopping pattern and for aperiod of time that does not exceed a time period to use the firstfrequency channel specified by the frequency hopping pattern. In step808, the LTE-U capable wireless communication device configures acellular wireless subsystem to use a second frequency channel asspecified by the frequency hopping pattern for a period of time alsospecified in the frequency hopping pattern. In some embodiments, theeNodeB provides the LTE-U capable wireless communication device asequence of RF channels in the unlicensed radio frequency band and atime period to use each RF channel. In some embodiments, time periods,start times, and/or stop times are specified using SFN values. In someembodiments, the unlicensed radio frequency band is an ISM frequencyband or a UNII frequency band. In some embodiments, the frequencyhopping pattern is specified using a set of frequency channel numbers orby a set of center frequency values for the secondary component carrier.

The various aspects, embodiments, implementations or features of thedescribed embodiments can be used separately or in any combination.Further, some aspects of the described embodiments may be implemented bysoftware, hardware, or a combination of hardware and software. Thedescribed embodiments can also be embodied as computer program codestored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The computerreadable-medium may be associated with any data storage device that canstore data which can thereafter be read by a computer or a computersystem. Examples of the computer-readable medium include read-onlymemory, random-access memory, CD-ROMs, Solid-State Disks (SSD or Flash),HDDs, DVDs, magnetic tape, and optical data storage devices. Thecomputer-readable medium can also be distributed over network-coupledcomputer systems so that the computer program code may be executed in adistributed fashion.

The foregoing description, for purposes of explanation, used specificnomenclature to provide a thorough understanding of the describedembodiments. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art thatsome of the specific details are not required in order to practice thedescribed embodiments. Thus, the foregoing descriptions of specificembodiments are presented herein for purposes of illustration anddescription. These descriptions are not intended to be exhaustive,all-inclusive, or to limit the described embodiments to the preciseforms or details disclosed. It will be apparent to one of ordinary skillin the art that many modifications and variations are possible in viewof the above teachings, without departing from the spirit and the scopeof the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for time division based coexistence inan unlicensed radio frequency (RF) band, the method comprising: by awireless communication device: establishing a connection between thewireless communication device and an eNodeB of a wireless network usinga primary component carrier of a primary cell in a licensed radiofrequency band; obtaining a configuration for a secondary cell from theeNodeB, the secondary cell operating in the unlicensed radio frequencyband, and the configuration for the secondary cell including a set oftimers indicating an on cycle and an off cycle for use of the secondarycell; configuring a secondary component carrier for the secondary cellto supplement the primary component carrier for the connection betweenthe wireless communication device and the eNodeB, the first and secondcomponent carriers used together for communication via carrieraggregation; transmitting to the eNodeB or receiving from the eNodeB viathe secondary component carrier during at least one on cycle of thesecondary cell; and inhibiting communication with the eNodeB via thesecondary component carrier during each off cycle of the secondary cell.2. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of timers include informationfor at least one of a starting time and an ending time for the on cycleand the off cycle of the secondary cell.
 3. The method of claim 2,wherein the starting time and the ending time are specified using one ormore system frame number (SFN) values.
 4. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: maintaining a start timer that indicates a start of each oncycle and a stop timer that indicates a start of each off cycle forcommunication via the secondary component carrier in the secondary cellby the wireless communication device.
 5. The method of claim 4, whereineach off cycle spans a time period sufficient for a wireless local areanetworking (WLAN) device to sense availability of a radio frequencychannel in the unlicensed radio frequency band that overlaps at least inpart with the secondary component carrier and to transmit at least onedata packet via the radio frequency channel in the unlicensed radiofrequency band.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the WLAN deviceoperates in accordance with a Wi-Fi wireless communication protocol, andthe wireless communication device operates in accordance with a LongTerm Evolution (LTE), Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A), or Long TermEvolution Unlicensed (LTE-U) wireless communication protocol.
 7. Themethod of claim 6, wherein each off cycle spans at least 20milliseconds.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the configuration forthe secondary cell is broadcast by the eNodeB using one or more systeminformation block (SIB) messages.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein theconfiguration for the secondary cell is communicated by the eNodeB tothe wireless communication device using one or more radio resourcecontrol (RRC) signaling messages.
 10. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: by the wireless communication device: communicating with theeNodeB during at least one off cycle of the secondary cell using theprimary component carrier of the primary cell.
 11. A wirelesscommunication device comprising: a cellular wireless subsystem; awireless local area network (WLAN) wireless subsystem; and processingcircuitry communicatively coupled to the cellular and WLAN wirelesssubsystems, the processing circuitry configured to cause the wirelesscommunication device to: establish a connection to a wireless networkusing a primary component carrier of a primary cell in a licensed radiofrequency band; obtain a configuration for a secondary cell operating inan unlicensed radio frequency band, the configuration for the secondarycell including information for an on cycle and an off cycle for use ofthe secondary cell; configure a secondary component carrier for thesecondary cell to supplement the primary component carrier for theconnection between the wireless communication device and the wirelessnetwork, the first and second component carriers used together forcommunication via carrier aggregation; communicate with the wirelessnetwork via the secondary component carrier during at least one on cycleof the secondary cell; and inhibit communication with the wirelessnetwork via the secondary component carrier during at least one offcycle of the secondary cell.
 12. The wireless communication device ofclaim 11, wherein the information for the on cycle and the off cycle foruse of the secondary cell includes at least one of a starting time andan ending time for the on cycle and the off cycle of the secondary cell.13. The wireless communication device of claim 12, wherein the startingtime and the ending time are specified using one or more system framenumber (SFN) values.
 14. The wireless communication device of claim 11,wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to cause thewireless communication device to: maintain a start timer that indicatesa start of each on cycle and a stop timer that indicates a start of eachoff cycle for communication via the secondary component carrier in thesecondary cell by the wireless communication device.
 15. The wirelesscommunication device of claim 14, wherein each off cycle spans a timeperiod sufficient for a wireless local area networking (WLAN) device tosense availability of a radio frequency channel in the unlicensed radiofrequency band that overlaps at least in part with the secondarycomponent carrier and to transmit at least one data packet via the radiofrequency channel in the unlicensed radio frequency band.
 16. Thewireless communication device of claim 15, wherein the WLAN deviceoperates in accordance with a Wi-Fi wireless communication protocol, andthe wireless communication device operates in accordance with a LongTerm Evolution (LTE), Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A), or Long TermEvolution Unlicensed (LTE-U) wireless communication protocol.
 17. Thewireless communication device of claim 11, wherein the wirelesscommunication device obtains the configuration for the secondary cell inone or more system information block (SIB) messages broadcast by aneNodeB of the wireless network.
 18. The wireless communication device ofclaim 11, wherein the wireless communication device obtains theconfiguration for the secondary cell in one or more radio resourcecontrol (RRC) signaling messages communicated by an eNodeB of thewireless network.
 19. The wireless communication device of claim 11,wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to cause thewireless communication device to: communicate with the wireless networkduring at least one off cycle of the secondary cell using the primarycomponent carrier of the primary cell.
 20. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium storing executable instructions that, whenexecuted by one or more processors of a wireless communication device,cause the wireless communication device to: establish a connection to awireless network using a primary component carrier of a primary cell ina licensed radio frequency band; configure a secondary component carrierfor a secondary cell to supplement the primary component carrier for theconnection between the wireless communication device and the wirelessnetwork, the secondary cell operating in an unlicensed radio frequencyband, and the first and second component carriers used together forcommunication via carrier aggregation; communicate with the wirelessnetwork via the secondary component carrier during an on time period forthe secondary cell; and inhibit communication with the wireless networkvia the secondary component carrier during an off time period for thesecondary cell.